Visibly-traveling projectile.



PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID C. BEAMAN, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

VISIBLY-TRAVELING PROJECTILE.

SYECIFICATION formingpart Of Letters Patent N0. 675,845, dated June 4,1901. Application filed December 19,1899- Serlal No. 740,942. (Nospecimens.)

To all whom it may concern.- v

Be it known thatLDAvID C. BEAMAN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State ofColorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVisibly-'Iraveling Projectiles; and I do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertaius to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms apart of this specification.

My invention relates projectiles.

The improvement consists in making the projectile visible whiletraveling through the air.

To be more specific, the improvement consists in providing theprojectile with a. comto improvements in position or substance capableof ignition from the powder or other explosive of the driving charge orby friction with the inside of the barrel of the gun or other firingimplement or machine or by friction with the air,whereby a visible smokeor streak, either dark or luminous, is produced during the passage ofthe projectile from the gun toward the object aimed at or a substancewhich will by friction alone diffuse, dispense, emit, or give off a dustor other substance sufficient to make the path of theprojectile visible.

My object is to enable the gunner and others to readily observe whetherthe shooting is too high or too low or too much to the right or left ofthe object, as well as any other inacc'nracies of aim, and better enablethe marksman to correct his aim and regulate the amount of explosive tobe used, especially in ring at moving objects or targets, animate orinanimate.

I accomplish the aforesaid object by coating the shot, bullet, or otherform or kind of projectilowith a substance or compound that emits ordiffuses fumes, smoke, or vapor of more or less density duringcomparatively slow combustion after ignition either by the heat or flameof the explosion produced by the discharge of the gun or after ignitionby friction with the bore of the gun or with the air or otherwise or byfriction with the air without ignition. The compoundl prefer for thepurpose consists of guncotton or hexnitrate of cellulose,C,,ll,,(XO,),O, dissolved to saturation in acetone, (011,),00, afterwardincorporated with an ammonium salt, such as the chlorid, (Nlhtlh)together with a certain proportion of finely-divided metallic anti mony(8b,) or the regulus of that metahand the acetone subsequently removedas far as requisite by evaporation or other means. The chemical changesthat take place during the combustion of this compound are more or lessuncertain, owing to the presence of a variable proportion of acetone andof atmospheric oxygen; but for the purpose of illustration the reactionsinvolved may be expressed by the following equation:

That is to say, the carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen of the guncotton ahdacetone undergo combustion and more or less complcto oxidation totransparent gaseous compound. The antimony oxidizes to antimouic oxidand forms dense white fumes. The ammonium chlorid sublimcs at theinstant of ignition, but immediately condenses in copious white fumes.It is these fumes that are intended to indicate the path of the cl'iargcor projectile through the atmosphere.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is l. A proj octilecxteriorly coated with a substance capable of ignition resulting eitherfrom the explosion or friction or both,whereby the projectile or itscourse is rendered visible after leaving the gun.

2. A projectile exteriorly coated with a substance capable of suchchemical 'eaction resulting either from the explosion or the friction ofits passage, as to render the projectile or its course visible after itleaves the gun or other implement.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DAVID C. IHCANAN. Witnessesz A. J. ODRIEN, GRACE Mrrmonn.

